


Little Love

by luoup (ravenic)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Altean Hunk (Voltron), Altean Lance (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Kid Fic, just not the way you'd think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-19 15:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14876330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenic/pseuds/luoup
Summary: The body Paladins get turned small and not-Human.  Shiro and Allura and Coran try to figure out how to turn them back, while at the same time caring for two Altean peeps and two Galra kits.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey luoup, you know what you should do? make a whole new fic instead of working on any of the ongoing nonsense you're already months behind on. yes. good idea. 
> 
> sorry for the lack of presence, or updates, or... anything, really. but i'm back! with a new fic that i came up with probably sometime during season 2 but never wrote until now! (so no missing shiro, no lion shuffle, no lotor, and holts are still MIA. as all my fics tend to stick to. this is what i get for not writing my ideas until literally three seasons later)
> 
> don't worry too much about the exact hows and whys these particular circumstances came to be. that's not the point of this story, so there's mostly just a bunch of handwaving in that direction and then i ignore it completely. the point is cute fuzzy babies being silly. that's it. if you came here for something else then sorry, this fic is just 20+ pages of literal fluff.

Shiro had seen a lot.  Aliens were real, the universe was a lot bigger than he could ever have imagined, and he was a warrior against a centuries-old evil empire ruled by large purple cat-lizards. 

All of that, and yet this was maybe the most unbelievable thing he’d ever seen. 

The other four Paladins of Voltron sat in a line in front of him, staring right back.  Except they weren’t quite… themselves.  The mission had gone haywire (as it always seemed to do, but maybe Shiro was just bitter) and things had… changed.  Just a bit. 

Hunk was on one side, holding tightly to Lance’s hand.  They both looked almost normal, except that they were each approximately three feet tall with elongated ears and facial markings much like Allura and Coran’s, although Hunk’s were the color of pure gold and Lance’s were gleaming blue.  Their eyes glowed a bit too, and their skin was just a little too smooth for a Human, their hair too shiny. 

On Lance’s other side was Keith.  They all knew Keith had Galra blood, but that plain fact was nothing compared to how he looked now – short, shorter than Hunk but maybe taller than Lance, and bright purple and fuzzy, with big fluffy ears and a sort of crest of fur on his head.  The violet eyes were almost the same, but the sclera were now yellow, and they almost glowed.    

Pidge, purple too and even smaller, was clinging to a newly-created tail.  If Shiro had to guess, he would put her at less than two years old, if she’d been Human.  She wasn’t.  Even fluffier than Keith with fur a paler shade of purple, her ears and solid-yellow eyes were enormous in her tiny face and she clutched her tail like it was a security blanket, curling and uncurling the toes of her new paw-like feet. 

Hunk, Lance, Keith, and Pidge had been turned into children.  And to make it even better (worse, really, much worse), they weren’t Human children.  Two Altean peeps and two Galra kits sat in a row in front of Shiro, staring at him like he had all the answers to the universe. 

“How on Altea did this happen?” Allura murmured from beside Shiro.  She sounded just as lost as he felt. 

Shiro didn’t know.  He had been separated from the others, they had been in a room without him, and _something_ had happened, because when he’d finally arrived it had been to the sight of four very small not-Human children sitting confused on the floor.  Somehow, he’d gotten them all into the pod and gotten back without any mishaps, but now they were here and not a single person in the castle knew what had happened or what to do. 

“Well,” Coran said, sounding not quite as confident as usual, “we might as well ask the individuals in question.  Besides,” he added, a little quieter, “we need to know what they know.  What their mindset is, rather.  Our Paladins are now very small and totally different species – even if we don’t know how or why that happened, we need to know how they are doing now and what they are thinking and feeling.”

“We need to know what they need,” Shiro said, just as quietly.  “Human children are essentially helpless at this age.  I don’t know anything about Alteans or Galra, but they seem really young.”

Allura nodded.  “And we do not yet know how to fix this.  They may be in these forms for a while, we cannot afford to let the Paladins of Voltron become hurt or sick.  They need to trust us.”

“Only one way to learn what they know, and what they need,” Coran said, regaining confidence now that he had processed a little bit.  “Lance,” he said, and the peep straightened up, ears perked at the attention and eyes wide.  “Lance, my boy, how are you?”

“I – um…” Nervous blue eyes glanced over at Hunk, who shrugged helplessly.  “I don’t… know?” the newly-changed peep’s voice turned up at the end, almost a squeak.  “I… who are you?  I like your moustache.”

Coran lit up.  “Why, thank you!”  He gave him a radiant smile, which fell quickly.  “Wait a tick.  Do you know any of us, at all?”

“Lance,” Hunk said immediately, pointing at the blue-marked peep. 

“Hunk!” Lance exclaimed, doing the same. 

“Mreep,” said Pidge, staring somewhere between Shiro’s hair and Coran’s moustache. 

“Shi…ro?” Keith said, and Shiro’s heart leapt, but the word was said like a question, without any familiarity.  He must have said his own name at some point during the hasty retreat back to the castle. 

Shiro’s own brother didn’t know who he was. 

Admittedly, Shiro himself would be hard-pressed to identify _Keith_ within the fluffy alien child sitting in front of him.  But it was real, and these were his Paladins.  Even if they were tiny, and young, and not at all the same species as when they had left the castle this morning. 

 “What are we going to do?” Allura mumbled, almost to herself.  She seemed just as in shock as Shiro felt.  “I… I have no idea how to care for peeps, much less kits.”

Shiro didn’t know how to take care of Human children, either.  They were out all three ways. 

Coran took a deep breath and clapped his hands.  Shiro, the two Galra, and all three Alteans turned to him sharply, the Altean and Galra ears at attention from the sound.  “I believe that the first order of business should be dinner,” the mechanic said, calm as if four-fifths of Voltron hadn’t just been de-aged and de… specied?  Re-specied?  Shiro’s head hurt. 

Allura looked lost too.  “But… aren’t there other things we should be concerned with?” she asked.  “Such as returning our Paladins to their correct age and species?”

Her pseudo-uncle smiled.  “Of course, Princess,” he agreed amenably, “but for now we have four little ones who are doubtless ready for dinner, and we can’t be having anyone going hungry, now can we?”

All four young stared at him with wide eyes, but despite their fear and anxiety about being in an unfamiliar situation with unfamiliar individuals, they didn’t seem to be afraid.  Maybe there was still some familiarity in there somewhere, traces of memories of who they really were. 

Not that they could be Paladins right now anyway.  That much was obvious.  Allura looked over her newly-modified team and sighed.  “Alright.  Coran, let’s move the castle somewhere farther away and safer; we are in no condition to fight any battles right now.  Shiro, we will meet you in the kitchen as soon as we are able, maybe try to feed them while we warp?”

Shiro sighed.  He had no experience with kids, but there wasn’t really a choice in this situation.  “Got it, Princess.” 

He just hoped they hurried. 

* * *

First things first.  The memories of the other Paladins was clearly blurry, and they were all reasonably quite nervous.  Shiro knelt down, very aware of just how _big_ he was compared to them, all muscles and shoulders and scars and his dratted _arm_ that hummed just loud enough to be noticeable.  He looked like a threat, and they needed to not be afraid of him. 

“Hey,” he said gently, looking at each Paladin and hoping that eye contact was not too aggressive in Altean/Galra body language.  “I’m Shiro.  I know you’re confused and scared, but I promise you can trust me.  Allura and Coran, too.”

“Mister Mustache?” Lance asked, head tilted like a bird. 

Shiro suppressed a laugh.  “Mister Mustache.”

Keith’s ears were twitching nervously.  “Where are we?” he blurted, holding tighter to Pidge who made a vague noise through the tailtip still in her mouth. 

“This is the Castle of Lions,” Shiro said.  He _really_ hoped that Keith remembered him at least a little bit, or that he wasn’t as distrustful as he usually was.  Otherwise, this was going to be hard.  “We’re in space.”

That did it.  Keith’s ears shot up and he sat up so fast that the movement nearly sent Pidge toppling off the bench.  “Space?” he asked, with very badly-controlled excitement. 

“Space,” Shiro said.  “Here, come with me – all of you.  We can go see before we get dinner.”

It was a good call.  Lance and Hunk went nuts at the observatory window, climbing the weird chairs and side benches and exclaiming over everything, from particularly bright stars to the spinny bits of a telescope Coran had brought out a few cycles ago.  Keith just sat down in the middle of the floor and stared, stars reflecting in his new yellowy eyes, ears and crest fully raised with excitement and happiness. 

Pidge was less interested, blinking blankly at the window before crinkling her nose and returning to the fun game of biting at Shiro’s fingers – fortunately the metal ones, or Shiro might be significantly less accepting.  But she seemed to be enjoying herself and her ears and tail weren’t stiff with stress, so he was counting it as a victory. 

They stayed there for a while.  Shiro watched the other three as Pidge burbled to herself and chewed on his fingers.  Lance and Hunk, much like their normal relationship, were instantly close and one was always following the other as they explored the room and gazed out the window at the stars.  Keith was clearly more awkward and nervous, making little effort to interact with them.  He sat on his own, watching space drift by. 

Eventually Shiro couldn’t take it anymore and went to him, settling down beside his newly-Galra-ified brother.  Keith jumped at the arrival, but as soon as Shiro was sitting Pidge abandoned him and crawled over to tumble into Keith’s chest.  She meeped and mrowped until he helped her roll over and sit up, then settled down, tugging on her tail and watching the room placidly. 

It seemed to work.  Keith relaxed, probably more because of the even-smaller-than-he-was kit in his lap than because of Shiro’s presence, but Shiro was willing to take anything at this point.  Hunk and Lance were happy, talking over each other and staring out the window between bouts of climbing whatever they could reach.  With Pidge close, Keith had settled down, and now looked much calmer, content to look at the stars while his kin-sister played with her own tail-fluff.  The entire situation was beyond weird, but Shiro felt himself relax slightly for the first time since walking into that room and finding his Paladins _changed._  

No matter how interesting the space-window was, however, they were still kids and lunch had been a long time ago.  Hunk’s stomach growled loud enough to startle everyone, but before Lance could laugh at him his own did the same.  Keith’s ears twitched, glancing down and then back at Shiro.  Maybe Galra didn’t get grumbly tummies, but he was obviously hungry too. 

“Okay, come on,” Shiro sighed.  “Let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can find.”

* * *

By the time Allura and Coran made it to the kitchen, having transported the Castle of Lions to a relatively empty stretch of space unlikely to be noticed by any Galra, the place looked like a pack of yelmores had stampeded through it. 

Lance was dancing on the counter, a bowl of food goo half-forgotten in one hand and Hunk grabbing at his ankles.  The (former?) Yellow Paladin was probably trying to get his friend to come down before he hurt himself, but more likely was going to trip him and send him crashing to the ground.  Keith was fighting with Shiro for… some reason, but there seemed to be claws involved.  Pidge was nowhere to be seen.  There was food goo everywhere. 

Shiro looked immensely relieved at the sight of the two adult Alteans.  “Thank god you’re here, I –”

Whatever he had been intending to say was cut off by Keith letting out a particularly loud screech and swiping at him again, catching new little claw-nails in Shiro’s shirt.  Lance slipped a little and dropped his bowl of goo, which narrowly missed Hunk’s head.  A suspicious _clunk_ sound came from one of the cabinets.  Goo dripped slowly from where a blob had stuck to the ceiling, dropping to splat onto the floor. 

Wide-eyed, Allura stood there like a gylup, staring at the disaster that was the food preparation area.  Coran, however (thank the stars for Coran), leapt into action. 

“What an adventure you all are having here,” the mechanic said pleasantly, as if he had simply walked into an animated discussion or a lively game instead of chaos incarnate.  Smoothly he swept Lance off the counter and deposited the peep safely on the floor beside Hunk, who wrapped his arms around him in relief.  Another few steps and he had lifted Keith out of Shiro’s arms – and more importantly, removed a very scratched-up Shiro from the reach of Keith’s little claws – and set the kit to sit on the counter, handing him a bowl of goo.  “Why don’t we just eat in here, rather than bothering with all the nonsense required for dining at a table.  And cutlery is so _very_ overrated, I agree,” he added, stretching up and just managing to reach the top of the cabinets where a tiny purple Pidge had somehow made her way, curled around her own bowl of goo which she was daintily eating with her bare hands. 

Coran turned around, Pidge in one arm and the food goo in the other, only to see Allura and Shiro staring at him, mouths open and eyes wide.  “I – how –” Shiro stammered, and Allura seemed just as lost. 

“Erm,” said the advisor.  “I’m afraid I know little more about children than you do.  There were never many peeps in the castle, and even fewer kits – back before the war.” He shrugged.  “I’m only really good at managing adults, which these little ones certainly are not.  But not to worry!  This can be a learning experience, and we will all be highly skilled at childcare by the end of it!”

Even with Coran’s enthusiasm and best attempts at baby-wrangling, dinner was more than a little hectic.  Hunk and Lance seemed to have taken it upon themselves to completely dismantle their food and were playing with their goo much more than eating it.  Keith kept trying to escape to who knew where.  Pidge quickly lost interest in her dinner and began to fuss, squeaking and mewling since she was now apparently too young for Human (Galra?) words. 

At last the adults gave it up.  “Why don’t you two take everyone up and try to figure out the sleeping situation?” Coran suggested, rescuing Lance’s cup from toppling off the counter.  “I recommend making one bed up for all four, they may feel safer together.  Hopefully by then they will have settled.” He caught Keith as the kit made another break for it, placing him back in his spot.  “In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do about this place.  I’m suspecting it’s time to get out the old cleaning bots once again, and see if they’re still any good at removing food goo from odd surfaces.”

Allura sighed, giving up her attempts to settle Pidge.  “I believe we could all use the rest.  The sooner everyone is in bed and asleep, the better.  Tomorrow, we can begin searching for a solution to all this.”

They could only hope there was one. 

* * *

It had been a _very_ long day, and Shiro was exhausted.  The mission had been hard enough before it turned his entire team into children and altered their species to boot – those had just been icing on the crummy cake.  Shiro was so tired, physically and mentally, that he thought he might actually sleep tonight, for once. 

It was not to be.  Just a few minutes after Shiro had laid down, a tentative tapping came from the door. 

 _Should have expected this_ , Shiro thought to himself ruefully as he gazed down at the four.  Lance seemed to be leading the pack, holding tightly on to Hunk, who looked like he was regretting knocking on the big scary Human’s door.  Beside them Keith was holding Pidge – although clearly he didn’t know how, and she had slipped a little, and now he looked like a little kid trying to hold a cat, arms wrapped tightly just under Pidge’s arms as she hung like a sack of potatoes from his grip. 

“S-Shiro?” Hunk was the one hiding, but Lance was looking a little uncertain now.  “I – we – it was dark, and we couldn’t sleep, and Pidge wouldn’t stop… clicking?  And Hunk –”

 _“Not me,”_ Hunk hissed, looking half-embarrassed and half-nervous, “this was your idea!”

“– _we_ wanted to come find you, and –”

Shiro sighed, and they all cowered back a little.  He hurried to reassure them.  “I’m not mad,” he said, crouching down to meet Lance, then Hunk, then Keith’s eyes.  “I should have guessed that it would be scary to sleep all on your own in this great big castle.”

Hunk’s eyes glimmered in the darkness, but his new cheek markings positively _glowed_.  “Can we…”

“Yes.” If tiny Altean Hunk was anything like big Human Hunk, he would never quite be able to ask, to intrude on the space of another.  “Of course, you can all come sleep with me.”

Maybe this was a bad idea.  Shiro was prone to sleeplessness and restlessness and terrible violent nightmares, but right now he was exhausted, and although he’d been trying to repress it all day, there was a part of him that desperately needed to reassure itself that his team was alright. 

The bed wasn’t made for five, but four of the five were pretty small now so they would make it work.  Shiro rescued Pidge from Keith’s well-meaning but inexpert grip so that the bigger kit could go dig more blankets out of the cabinet.  Hunk immediately started building some sort of nest, commandeering Lance to help him, and Shiro just stood there, watching his team industriously construct a den out of a mountain of blankets as Pidge sucked on her tail and watched him with wide pupil-less yellow eyes. 

Eventually the peeps and Keith seemed to be satisfied with the blankets’ arrangement and turned to him.  “Bedtime,” said Hunk happily.  Shiro couldn’t agree more. 

Lance was first in, tugging Shiro after him.  The team’s sole remaining Human lay carefully on his back, the even-tinier-than-usual Pidge curled on his chest, as Hunk pressed against his other side and Keith took the edge.  The kit had obviously struggled with the want to sleep beside Shiro and Pidge – guardian and tinykit – and the need to be on the outer side to get away or protect the others, as needed.  The protective urge won out over personal comfort, and Keith lay carefully on the side of the bed, his eyes glowing like Hunk and Lance’s cheek marks, shining in the dark. 

Lance was already asleep, and Hunk pressed close to Shiro, already drifting.  A sound like a soft trill emerging from his throat.  Shiro would have to ask Coran, but it sounded happy.  Pidge was a nearly-spherical ball of dark purple fuzz curled on Shiro’s chest, completely out.  Even Keith’s gleaming eye-blinks were slowing as he dozed off. 

This was, technically, an emergency.  Four-fifths of Team Voltron was down.  This would have to be fixed, and fast.  Until Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were back to their original ages and species, the castleship was all but helpless.  But Shiro was tired, and the bed was warm, and for the first time in a long time, he felt safe as he drifted into sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MOER BABYES. 
> 
> aaand we're back with another pile of fluffy nonsense about alien childrens. depending on how the next chapter's edits go, i might tack some more on to this one. but for now have some random disjointed scenes of ridiculousness. this is the second-most absurd thing i've ever written and i love it.

Shiro regretted everything.  He regretted many, many things, including the fact that his entire team was now small and not-Human. 

He was especially regretting letting Pidge climb him, because right now she had her little claws dug into his shoulders and it was like having a cat give you a massage.  “Pidge, come here – Pidge let go right now – _ow_!”  The little demon just hung on tighter and hissed.  Even when she was Human Pidge was known to bite if removed from her preferred location, so maybe it was actually better to leave her there and just hope she didn’t go for his ears instead. 

Lance was watching the two of them and laughing like a hyena (exactly as his larger Human self would have done, really).  Hunk was clearly trying to look concerned rather than join Lance but was failing significantly.  Keith was MIA and Allura and Coran were probably off doing important things that didn’t involve being clawed to death by a baby Galra. 

“You’re all impossible,” Shiro muttered, ignoring Lance’s laughter and Hunk’s muffled snickering in favor of doing some truly impressive stretching, finally getting his Human hand around Pidge’s stomach.  He tugged her up and then out, dislodging the claws and at last detaching her from his shirt and skin.  She hissed again, but seemed to tolerate the removal as long as Shiro kept holding her.  The tail (Shiro was still not used to the tail) wrapped itself around the Black Paladin’s forearm for stability, and Pidge settled herself not without some grumbles into Shiro’s grasp. 

“Again!” Lance cried.  Shiro leveled him with a glare that did absolutely nothing. 

He changed tactics.  “Sure, Lance.  Here you go!” He thrust Pidge at him with a broad grin, laughing when the Altean shrieked and bolted to hide behind Hunk as Pidge hissed and squirmed. 

Amusing to watch Lance’s reaction, sure, but now Pidge was riled up again.  Shiro was pretty sure Galra were half water or something, because both Pidge and Keith in their new forms (and also in their Human ones, to be honest) were unreasonably wriggly and near-impossible to hold onto unless they wanted to be held, in which case it would take a crowbar to pry them off.  Now was not one of those times, however, and Pidge was rapidly squiggling her way out of Shiro’s grasp no matter how he tried to reposition his hold. 

“I’ve got her,” came Keith’s voice out of nowhere, and Shiro jumped out of his skin (he had never gotten used to sneaky Keith as a Human – Galra – _more Human than now_ – and being smaller and naturally stealthier was not helping matters) before dropping the wriggling kit into her species-mate’s waiting arms.  Keith staggered a little with the added weight, but Pidge clambered and twisted until she was starfished to Keith’s chest with her tail wrapped around his waist and then settled, allowing him to regain his balance once she’d stilled. 

 _Thank the stars she likes Keith, or I would lose a fight to a baby Galra,_ Shiro thought to himself.  Now back to what he’d been trying to do in the first place, before Pidge decided he was her personal scratching post.  “Lunchtime!”

The whining and complaining was from all of them as Shiro herded the four towards the kitchen.  Admittedly, Coran’s cooking had not improved since day one, and neither Allura nor Shiro were much help in that department.  Hunk still retained some interest in food, but none of the adults wanted to give him too much free rein in the kitchen – he was a child now, and none of the body Paladins were very graceful in their current forms.  It would be far too easy for one of them to get hurt, and kitchens always had innumerable hazards. 

The little ones sat at the tiny table that was now the eating space in the kitchen while the adults finished making up the food.  Hunk sat in a chair like a normal Human being – er, Altean – and Lance tried, although he had to deal with Pidge climbing up the chair and settling herself happily on top of him.  Keith was on the table itself, cross-legged and looking completely comfortable as he talked with Hunk. 

Shiro sighed and turned his focus back to stirring the pot on the stove.  That was them, all right.  Even in their current, alternate, forms, these were definitely the Paladins he knew. 

Mealtime itself was as much of a disaster as it always was now.  Even with Allura coaxing them, Lance and Hunk destroyed everything they touched, and at some point Hunk produced a cleaning drone he’d kidnapped from somewhere and that was it for the both of them, and Coran was left to chase after the peeps and the runaway drone while Allura and Shiro sighed and returned to the task of trying to get Keith and Pidge to eat anything at all.  Neither kit seemed interested in food or eating, and Pidge had already knocked an entire bowl of goo on the floor.  It was a struggle that repeated at every mealtime, and Shiro finally got frustrated enough to voice his confusion.  “They were fine the first day!  Why is this so hard now?  Lance and Hunk don’t have any problems, besides wanting to deconstruct everything they touch.  What’s it about Galra that makes them so picky?”

Allura put down the spoon, leaving Pidge to grumble to herself in her lap.  “On Altea, virtually all the flora is safe for Altean consumption.  Our species never really evolved cautiousness around food.  At home, everything is edible and you can eat whatever you want.”

Coran came back into the room, a peep under each arm and the cleaning bot nowhere to be found.  He picked up on the topic quickly, explaining yet another of the differences between all these aliens Shiro knew nothing about.  “But Daibazaal was different.  The Galra home planet was quite inhospitable.  There were few resources, many of the plants were toxic, and the fauna was often dangerous if not deadly.  Not a good place for a kit.

“Our young are born individually,” Coran continued, and nobody said anything about the fact that there were no more Altean young, that these two peeps were really Humans and Altean young had not existed for thousands of years.  “We often raise them in groups, but only one peep is born to a family at a time. 

“Galra are born in litters.  They have to be – few of them seemed to survive to adulthood.  This is affecting Keith and Pidge as well, since there are no other kits to be around.  But in regards to food: Galra kits have evolved to be extremely suspicious of food.  Where their species came from, there were many things that could harm or kill them if ingested, so kits are very picky and distrusting of most food products.  The ones that aren’t… don’t tend to last long.”

Shiro’s stomach twisted at that.  He needed to keep the others safe and healthy, which was challenge enough _without_ them being children and the wrong species.  Keith and Pidge already didn’t eat enough, as Humans and still now – they could not afford to be avoidant of what food was available, especially since none of the food on board the castleship was actually toxic.  “So how do we get them to eat?” he asked, hoping that his concern wasn’t showing too obviously. 

Judging by the look on Coran’s face, he wasn’t succeeding.  “Well, the simplest way is once they decide that something is edible, just give them that.  Expanding their diet would be important as well, to prevent malnutrition, but we are operating under the assumption that they will not be in this form for too long.”

Not quite reassuring.  Allura and Coran hadn’t yet found out how the Paladins had been transformed, much less how to detransform them.  Shiro pushed down his concern.  “They seem to be mostly alright with the food goo, and a few of the other things we have from shopping trips before,” he said, trying for hopeful.

“Indeed,” Coran agreed.  “It helps that we are all eating the same things,” he added.  “They see the others eating, see us, the grown-ups, eating, and they are more likely to be accepting of things.  Everything should be fine, and they likely will not be in these forms long enough for it to become a problem, but it is something to be aware of.”

Just another thing to worry about, on top of everything else.  Shiro hoped Coran and Allura found a cure soon.

* * *

The rest of the day went terribly.  To continue searching for a cure to the age- and species-alterations, Coran and Allura needed to run tests.  Big, scary, scientific tests that left all four children stressed, upset, and more than a little teary.  Pidge had screamed like a dying rabbit when Coran drew her blood (a shade of blue so dark it was almost black, just another alien detail to the whole mess).  Hunk had cried the whole time Allura was scanning him, and Lance almost bit Shiro even though the blood pressure test (at least, that was what the Human thought this was for) was harmless.  Keith had made a run for it several times, and all the adults had the scratches to prove it. 

All in all a bad time, and not a good way for the children to spend time with their caretakers.  Hopefully the information would help get them back to normal faster, but it had not been an enjoyable experience for anyone. 

The next event would either make everything better, or ten times worse. 

“I really, really hope Alteans and Galra like baths,” Shiro muttered to himself.  “Otherwise I am completely screwed.”

Although the Alteans were busy analyzing the results of the tests, Allura had lent out her enormous bathroom so that Shiro could try to get the babies washed up.  That was great, but it meant that Shiro was now locked in a room with four overexcited children and no idea how they would react to the water. 

Galra, Shiro had learned, usually took dust baths and rarely washed with water.  Daibazaal had low water resources and none could be wasted on water-bathing.  Altea was rich in fresh, clean water and so peeps and adults alike usually loved swimming and baths.  But how these four, who were in form and mentality not truly their own, would react to the whole event was anybody’s guess. 

 _There’s one I didn’t need to worry about,_ he thought a moment later, staring as Lance swam laps of the bathtub.  His hair had turned even darker and seal-sleek with water and his cheek-marks were glowing brilliantly as he splashed around. 

This was definitely a Lance thing, or maybe also a Blue thing, because Hunk seemed a lot more hesitant.  But after a few minutes of watching his kin-brother play, he couldn’t resist and clambered in after him.  His long hair turned wet and heavy, sticking to his skin, but the gold of the cheek-marks shone through anyway. 

Two down, two to go.  Apparently the way to go about this was going to be just drop everyone in the tub and hope that soap didn’t sting alien eyes the way it did for Humans.  “Wanna get in, Keith?”

The bigger kit stared suspiciously at the water, examining it like he thought it might want to kill him.  “Hrmm,” he said noncommittally, tapping tentatively at the surface with one hand.  Pidge was ignoring the racket and was bouncing her heels against the floor, chewing on her tail as she twitched one ear and then the other, alternating twitches with the bumping of her feet. 

Shiro sighed.  “Come on, Keith.  The water isn’t going to hurt you.  You don’t have to stay in, just for a few minutes.”  Keith had never been a big fan of water, even as a Human.  Living in the desert probably didn’t help. 

Apparently Keith realized that he wasn’t going to get to leave until after he tried the water.  Very cautiously he climbed over the edge, putting first one foot and then the other and sliding in until he was standing waist-deep in the enormous Altean bathtub.  His ears were tipped back and his entire face showed his distaste, but he seemed okay.  Right up until a huge wave from Hunk knocked him clean over. 

Shiro hauled his much-tinier-than-usual brother back upright as the kit sputtered.  “It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re fine,” he reassured, trying not to laugh.  Keith’s ears were now totally flat, his fluff plastered against his skin and making him look much smaller.  The Red Paladin looked extremely displeased, but he also looked like a soggy cat and it was making it very difficult for Shiro to keep a straight face. 

The splashing must have drawn Pidge’s attention.  The littlest Paladin picked herself up and, before Shiro could catch her or stop her or even reach over, had clambered right up and over the bath edge and toppled into the water. 

Shiro had been planning on bathing Pidge in the sink, because she was so small he was worried she would drown in the bathtub, huge and deep as it was.  He didn’t even know if she could swim in this form.  But before he could panic about it, she popped back up, a bundle of wet fur floating easily on the surface.  She squeaked happily and made little splashy paddling motions with her paws, batting at the water. 

Galra definitely did not float.  For one, Keith’s feet were firmly on the tub basin, showing no inclination of floating, and why would a desert species be buoyant? 

Ah.  That’s why.  Lance was crouched beneath Pidge, cheeks puffed out with air, holding the kit on top of his head so that she was just at the surface but did not sink.  She burbled at him and he blew bubbles at her.  She responded in kind, although hers were mostly just the kit sticking her whole face underwater and yelling. 

As the two played at bubbles, Hunk lured Keith further into the water and Shiro could finally relax.  He kept a careful eye on the four, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Hunk and Keith’s game was mostly Keith climbing on Hunk, maybe in an attempt to escape the water, but both seemed happy enough. 

The rest of bathtime went quite well, or at least as well as could be expected.  By the end, Pidge had water in her ears, Hunk had water up his nose, Lance had soap in his, Keith couldn’t stop sneezing, and Shiro might as well have taken a bath himself for how wet he was. 

Everyone got bundled up in towels, and Shiro learned that Altean hair took to towel-scrubbing like gravity had dropped dead.  Both peeps looked as if they had stuck their fingers in light sockets.  Keith wasn’t much better but at least he was _supposed_ to look fluffy.  Pidge was poofy as usual, although Shiro got more than a few bites for attempting to dry her fuzzy toe-beaned pawfeet.  Honestly, Shiro’s own hair had probably seen better days and he was pretty sure there was soap stuck somewhere in his Galra arm, but everyone was happy and clean and so he was too.  He was even willing to carry them all back to the common room, Keith in one arm and Lance in the other, with Pidge securely stuck onto his chest and Hunk chattering in his ear from his piggyback position. 

It was nice. 

* * *

Keith had always had the talent of asking strange questions out of nowhere.  He had apparently not lost this skill during his de-aging and Galrafication (Galra-intensification?  He already was part-Galra, it was just… more, now). 

“Why am I different?”

Shiro turned to look questioningly at his tiny purple brother.  “What?”

Keith gestured vaguely across the room at where Allura was brushing Hunk’s hair.  Lance bounced beside her, impatiently waiting his turn.  Coran managed to distract him with a book of star maps he had found somewhere, and Allura was able to finish her task, the bigger peep puddling in her hands and letting out quiet chirps as she worked.  “Lance and Hunk have Allura and Coran.  They – they match.”  Then he pointed at Shiro.  “And you’re a – Human?” he said it almost as a question, but that wasn’t what he was focusing on.  “And I’m… purple.”

“Galra.” Shiro wasn’t sure where this was coming from, but he was pretty sure it was important.  “You’re Galra, just like Pidge.  Lance and Hunk are Altean, and so are Allura and Coran, but it’s just coincidence.  I’m Human, but I care about all of you.” He smiled at his brother, hoping he could reassure him.  “Species doesn’t mean much.  There are millions of different species in the universe.  Sometimes there are particular matches, and sometimes it’s the strangest group that just works out right.”

He kept himself from saying the other things.  _You’re Human, too.  You were Galra even before, but it was only part of you, and even you didn’t know.  You were Human enough.  Lance and Hunk aren’t Altean – they’re Human too.  There are no more Alteans, except for Allura and Coran.  Pidge isn’t a Galra, and she’s not a baby._

 _You’re all Human.  All of you.  Even if you don’t know it._  

He hoped it would be enough.  Keith was smart, but he could also be anxious and insecure, especially in this new form.  He watched Allura and Coran fawn over Lance and Hunk and couldn’t help but notice that he was the odd one out.  Pidge was just a baby, she didn’t care about anything but food and warmth.  Keith noticed differences between himself and others and worried endlessly about them. 

Shiro was going to have to talk with the other grown-ups about this.  He knew why they were so attached, so unintentionally preferential among the babies – although he could never truly understand such a severe loss, the vanishing of all of one’s people, gone forever.  But it wasn’t good for anyone, and it was stressing Keith.  Even though she was even smaller than the others, Pidge probably picked up on it at least to some extent and it couldn’t be good for her either.  Although they had their reasons, the Alteans needed to not show such preference.  It wasn’t healthy for the children, and it was probably pretty bad for the adults as well. 

Keith seemed to have dropped the subject, although it was probably still in his mind, and was now playing with Pidge, letting her climb up his back and over, tipping headfirst into his lap with a shrieky squeal before crawling back around to do it again.  Her purple was paler than his, her eyes blank yellow while Keith had kept pupils and irises in his own eyes.  She had pawfeet, and a tail, and her ears were each almost as big as Keith’s own face.  Keith’s fur was longer and stiffer, his head crowned with a dark fluff of nearly-black fur.  Different as they could be, but both looked undeniably alien from anyone else on the castle.  Both looked impossibly different from what they were supposed to be.  Shiro could only be glad that if the one half-Galra on their team had to be turned full-Galra, at least he was not alone. 

There were no more peeps.  These two, chirruping as they climbed all over the adults, pulling on Coran’s moustache and making messy braids in Allura’s hair, were not Altean.  Not really.  They looked like them, sounded like them, felt like them when you touched the smooth skin and soft hair and those shiny bright cheek marks.  But these were Humans, adolescents on the verge of adulthood.  Magic had changed their shapes and their minds, but they were not peeps.  It was a painful truth, probably most painful for a real Altean.  This was only temporary.  These children were not theirs.  Soon they would turn back to their true forms, and then there would be no more peeps for real. 

Shiro couldn’t imagine it.  But there was no other option.  Voltron was needed.  The Body Paladins had to be able to fight.  They couldn’t do that as children, as aliens to their own species.  But it was hard to not feel attached to them in these shapes – even if it wasn’t real.  It was real for now, looked and felt real, and Shiro couldn’t really begrudge the Alteans for their feelings.  He would just have to make sure that the kits were not neglected for lack of having adult Galra caretakers around. 

What a strange life for a Human. 

* * *

Allura was reading on her datapad when three little bodies came scrambling into the room. 

“Allura Allura Allura,” panted Hunk, nearly colliding with the Princess’s knees.  His marks glowed a bright distressed gold. 

“What is it?” she asked, setting the datapad safely to the side and looking the three over.  They all seemed quite panicked, and Keith was hanging back, ears pressed flat to his head and even his crest drooping, looking deeply upset. 

“WecantfindPidge,” Lance rushed in one breath. 

Allura’s blood turned cold.  For one of them to disappear: this had been something she had feared since the Paladins were first turned young.  And for it to be Pidge… the Green Paladin had been hard enough to find when she had been (somewhat) larger – now she was a kit small enough for Allura to hold in one hand.  How would they ever find her in the sprawling castleship? 

They just had to hope that she hadn’t gone too far. 

Regardless, Allura wasn’t going to find Pidge on her own, even if the peeps and Keith helped.  “Let’s go get Shiro,” she said, trying to hide the worry in her voice. 

Apparently nothing this day could go right, because when Allura and the three currently non-lost Paladins tumbled into his room, Shiro had been asleep.  Any other time Allura would have happily let him be, knowing how exhausted the Black Paladin always was, but this was an emergency. 

“Shiro, wake up!” Lance pounced onto the bed at Shiro’s side and easily dodging the wild confused flailing his leader executed at the surprise wake-up. 

“I’m up I’m up I’m up,” Shiro said, voice garbled with sleep.  His brain came online a few seconds after his body, and he settled after a moment, rubbing tiredly at his eyes once he realized who was in his room. “What’s going on?”

 “We can’t find Pidge,” Hunk blurted out. 

*

In an instant, all traces of sleepiness vanished from Shiro’s body.  As a Human, Pidge went missing all the time, but she could handle herself and always came back eventually, never getting lost.  As a baby Galra the size of a Yorkshire terrier, she could be almost literally anywhere in the castleship that was the size of a small city. 

Shiro stood as quickly as he could without knocking Lance clear off the bed.  Clearly nervous, Lance climbed up half his body before the Black Paladin grabbed him and settled the peep in a better hold.  “Okay,” he breathed, trying to maintain calm.  “It’s okay, we’ll find her.  How long ago did you last see Pidge?  Do you have any ideas why she’s gone or where she might be?”

Hunk shook his head, eyes wide with worry.  “Keith’s the one who lost her,” Lance said, and only then did Shiro realized that the other Galra was actually in the room too. 

Keith stood farther back from Hunk and Lance, almost in the doorway.  His ears were pressed flat against his head, and even his crest seemed to be cowering.  He wouldn’t look at Shiro or Allura. 

“He hasn’t said a word since they came to find me,” Allura whispered to him.  “They didn’t even really tell me anything except that Pidge was gone, and I came to get you without asking questions.”

Shiro gently put Lance down.  The peep moved to Allura and took her hand, pressing himself against her leg.  Hunk was similarly attached on her other side.  The Princess gave Shiro a helpless look and nodded at Keith. 

 _Patience yields focus.  You can’t yell at him, it won’t do anything except upset everyone._   Moving slowly, Shiro went to Keith and knelt so they were on the same level.  “Keith?  What happened?”

The former Red Paladin bit his lip and wouldn’t meet Shiro’s eyes.  His sharp teeth left indents, and he flinched when Shiro reached out and put his Human hand on Keith’s shoulder.  “Hey,” he said, quietly enough that only Keith could hear him, “I’m not mad.  I just want to find Pidge, and I know you do too.  Can you tell me what happened?”

“I told her to go away,” Keith breathed, almost inaudible.  “She was being annoying and climbing on me when I wanted to sleep, and I got mad and told her to go away.” Tears swam in his yellow eyes, blurring the indigo into watery purple. 

 _Oh no._   “Thank you for telling me,” Shiro said, tugging him into a hug.  Keith clung to his chest, pressing his purple-furred face into Shiro’s neck and hiccupping. 

Ever the pragmatic one, Allura straightened, looking as in-control as a teenaged girl with two children clinging to her could.  “Where should we look first?” she asked.  Of the two of them Shiro was far more familiar with Pidge’s habits and thought processes, and would probably be more likely to guess where she had gone, even if she was tiny and not quite herself at the moment. 

Shiro took a deep breath, closed his eyes and thought.  Where would Katie go – tiny, upset Katie?  She seemed to be the Galra equivalent to about two years old and was obviously different from the Pidge they were all familiar with, but each of the Paladins had retained a significant amount of their original personalities.  Baby Galra Pidge would hide in the same kind of place that big Human Pidge would, Shiro was certain. 

“Are we gonna get Pidge back?” he heard Lance ask, and Allura’s, “Yes, Lance.  We will.”

“But how?” That was Hunk, anxious and always questioning, always methodical. 

Allura’s voice was softer now.  “We’ll find her.  Shiro and I are very good at finding little Pidges, I promise.”

Keith didn’t say anything at all, just clung tighter to Shiro’s shoulder. 

 _If I was a tiny little Pidge, where would I hide?_   Pidge was very good at hiding, whether intentionally or not.  She tended to tuck herself away in odd corners when she was working, and more than once had fallen asleep in those odd corners, sometimes for hours at a time sometimes.  When she was actively hiding, not even Shiro or Keith could track her down.  She’d always been like that – back on Earth, Katie could even hide from Matt if she really wanted to.  Shiro had heard the stories of how she snuck around at the Garrison, first by breaking in and then hiding in plain sight as Pidge Gunderson.  Now, as the Green Paladin, Pidge could literally become invisible on a whim.  Stealth was her _thing._  

Fortunately, Pidge was currently a baby Galra, without her usual mindset and tools for hiding.  Unfortunately, she was even smaller now, which opened up a whole new world of spots she could go without anyone being able to track her down, or – worst – even reach her. 

No.  She’d be fine.  They would find her.  _I’m not losing another Holt._  

A favorite hiding place of big Pidge was the vents.  They were accessible from any room and allowed access to the entire castle, and nobody else could get in there without at least some struggle.  They might be hard to get into in her current form, but difficulty had never stopped Pidge before. 

Shiro was certain.  Pidge was in the vents. 

*

Of course, just because Pidge could fit in the vents didn’t mean Shiro could.  And they sure as hell weren’t sending the other young in, despite their arguments to help find the fourth member of their little… pack?  Flock?  What even was a group of Human children called? 

Allura offered to shapeshift and go into the vent shafts herself, but Shiro didn’t think Pidge would come to her.  The kit had never seemed terribly attached to the Altean Princess, preferring to stick to Keith or Shiro or the two peeps.  Especially if she was scared, the now-tiny Green Paladin was unlikely to come to someone she didn’t fully trust. 

In any case, there was no escaping the fact that Shiro could not fit in the vents.  His solution?  Put food near most of the ventilation grates and call for Pidge.  Coran was scanning the castle for her lifesigns, but she was so small that it was proving hard to pinpoint the exact location.  Until he could lock on, Shiro’s method would have to be good enough. 

Allura, the peeps, and a disconsolate Keith went around the main areas, putting bowls of ki-berries, shoula soup, those weird blue crackers from Xibella, and food goo – all of baby-Pidge’s current favorite foods – at the vents.  Shoula soup in particular had a very strong smell, and Keith said that to a Galra nose even the crackers and the goo were detectable from a distance.  Shiro, meanwhile, would walk from room to room and look as best he could down each small ventilation tunnel, calling for her.  Generally, Keith might have been a better bet to lure the kit back (in this form, she was positively attached to her kin-brother), but right now he was the reason for her hiding and his voice might only drive her further away. 

 _Please come back_ , Shiro thought as he peered into a dim vent. _I can’t lose another one of you.  I promised, I promised myself I would look after Katie, and now look.  She’s a_ Galra _, and she’s lost.  She’s lost, and I can’t find her, and –_

Something shifted in the darkness.  Shiro froze, squinting.  “Pidge?” he said quietly.  “Are you there?  Come on, come out.”

Another shuffle.  The light shifted, and suddenly Shiro was staring at a huge pair of glowing yellow eyes in the shadows of the vent.  They flickered briefly as Pidge blinked at him, but she was there.  She was right there. 

 _Thank the stars.  I found you._   “Hey, Pidge.  There you are.” Shiro reached one hand up carefully.  “We’ve been looking for you, Pigeon.” He was stretched up on his toes to see into the vent, and a part of him was terrified that if he went away for a second, if he even blinked, she would vanish again.  “Wanna come out now?”

Pidge stared at him owlishly.  She didn’t flinch at the hand reaching for her, but made no move to come to him. 

“Kiiuyt,” said Pidge, ears drooping a little.  She stared down at the vent, tail wrapped around her paws, looking upset. 

Pidge’s few words were never very clear in this form, but that was one Shiro knew.  _Keith._   He had gotten angry at her, and she was hiding from him, probably thinking he was still upset. 

“Pidge,” Shiro said softly.  “Keith isn’t mad at you.  He’s sorry that he yelled, and he would really like for you to come back now.”

The kit was looking at him again, which Shiro took to be a good sign.  “Come on, Katie,” he said, reaching out to her one more time.  “Everyone misses you, can you come to me and we’ll go show them everything is okay?” 

For a moment, she didn’t move.  Shiro had a sudden fear that she would just turn around and bolt.  She was too far back in the vent for him to forcibly grab even if he’d wanted to (he didn’t – it would only scare her more, and also Pidge in any form bit like a particularly vicious terrier), and if she fled now they might never find her again.  _Come on.  Trust me, please._  

And she came to him.  Tiny shuffles, at first, then a sudden burst of speed that sent the kit scrambling forward to tumble into Shiro’s arms in a bundle of purple fluff.  The tail hit Shiro in the face on the way down but he didn’t care.  

Pidge safely secured, Shiro stepped away from the vent.  And then had to suddenly sit down and lean against the wall, concentrating on just breathing.  He’d been so afraid.  There had been no threat, no attackers, no real danger.  But one of his own had disappeared, and it had scared him more than he had really processed.  With any of them, it would have been bad, but Pidge… Shiro hadn’t noticed the anxious pressure on his chest, the fear of _not again, I can’t lose one again_ , until it was suddenly gone. 

Pidge seemed to feel the same.  Now that she was back, she was clinging to Shiro’s chest with all the force of a starfish.  Her tail had wrapped itself around his Human arm, her face pressed into his sternum.  Her ears were laid flat and her whole tiny body was shaking lightly like the little greyhounds Shiro remembered seeing back on Earth, vibrating like livewires. 

“It’s okay,” Shiro whispered, wrapping his arms around her and stroking her head gently.  “It’s okay, I’ve got you.  I’ve got you, you’re safe.” 

Pidge said some things, but she was speaking directly into Shiro’s shirt and he couldn’t really understand her at the best of times anyway.  He just kept petting her head and back, scratching her ears gently the way he’d seen Lance do.  _We’re okay._  

Allura _wilted_ when Shiro walked into the room, carrying Pidge in his arms.  “Oh thank stars, you found her!” She patted Pidge’s head tentatively, relaxing as the kit closed her eyes and purred at the touch.  “Vents?” she questioned, glancing up at Shiro.  

He nodded.  “I got her to come out.  Everything’s alright now.” He let out a breath, consciously relaxing.  They’d gotten her back.  Nobody was missing, and everything was okay. 

Hunk and Lance swarmed them as soon as Allura stepped back, talking over each other and patting at Pidge, reassuring themselves and each other that she was okay.   Lance’s hair was all poofed up with stress, and once they’d calmed down Allura tugged him over to a chair and made him sit while she brushed it back out.  Then, of course, Hunk demanded a turn, and the princess was fully occupied with two peeps who both wanted brushies while at the same time having far too much energy to sit still for more than a few seconds. 

Shiro had something else to pay attention to.  Keith was standing half-behind Allura’s chair, ears pressed flat back and very carefully not looking at Shiro or Pidge. 

“Keith,” he called quietly, “come here, please.  Pidge really wants to see you.”

The kit didn’t quite seem to believe him, but eventually gave in and crept over.  His yellow-purple eyes were wide and nervous, clearly uncertain but wanting something. 

“Here he is, Pidge,” Shiro said gently to the fuzzball securely velcroed to his shirtfront, crouching so they were both was at the bigger kit’s level.  “Keith isn’t mad at you, I promise.  He was upset and he snapped, and he’s sorry.”

To Keith, he said just as gently, “Pidge didn’t mean to bother you so much.  You’re her favorite, you know, so she wants to be around you the most.  She was excited and clingy, and she’s sorry.”

Keith glanced up just as Pidge pulled her face back from Shiro’s chest so she could turn to look.  Their eyes met, yellow-backed purple to blank gold, and Shiro nearly lost his balance in the ensuing scramble.  Pidge flying-squirrel-leapt her way across the space and bowled Keith right over with the impact, burrowing against him and wrapping her tail tightly around one wrist. 

Keith responded in kind, clinging tightly to his kin-sister and pressing his face into her shoulder.  They just lay there, flat on the ground and wrapped around each other as Pidge purred and Keith chirped in response.  His crest had returned to its standard fluffiness, floofed even further with excitement, and her ears were twitching with happiness.  The fight was completely forgotten. 

Shiro could finally relax.  All four children were here, safe and sound and together.  They were deeply altered, enough that regular things were dangerous and frightening – Pidge disappearing was an almost everyday occurrence normally, but as essentially an infant it was much worse.  Keith hadn’t yet discovered the training deck (Shiro dreaded the very thought) and Lance didn’t seem to know what a rifle was right now.  Hunk was definitely interested in the kitchen, but they had been able to keep him away from the more dangerous parts or at least redirect his attention to a simple task to help. 

They were still themselves, but things were different.  That couldn’t be forgotten, not even for a second.  There wasn’t an option for mistakes.  The Paladins of Voltron could not be injured or lost. 

Talk about the most important babysitting job in the universe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man oh man i am so excited for s6. now i just have to find a stable internet connection and some time where nobody's trying to talk to me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay in this chapter posting. i've been working at an animal shelter and while i adore it, i'm always exhausted when i come home and i kept falling asleep every time i tried to write. 
> 
> but here it is! i keep making myself laugh when i write this. hopefully that's a good thing.

At Lance’s shriek, Shiro’s head snapped up, but it was a false alarm: Keith had grabbed one of the peep’s ears during their play.  Lance himself was unharmed.  Allura had had the same reaction, but she settled once she’d determined no one was in danger. 

For the most part the children stuck together in a conglomeration of chirps and squeaks and fluffy hair and grabbing hands, shuffling from activity to activity with seemingly endless energy.  Sometimes they separated, two staying with one adult while two went with another, or rarer three-and-one – being alone seemed to make all of them nervous – but generally it was simplest to just keep all four together with at least one adult present.  But for once, Hunk and Pidge weren’t playing with the others. 

Pidge had been fussing earlier and had bitten Keith on the calf and scratched Lance’s nose, so Shiro had taken her in his lap to try and calm her.  Her favorite game (after climb-the-Shiro and leave him covered with tiny needle-scratches) was playing with his Galra arm.  The little lights embedded in the metal seemed to fascinate her, and the kit could stay occupied for hours just staring, eyes wide and ears perked.  Sometimes she just chewed on it.  Thank goodness the arm was resilient – if anything could destroy an object, it was being made the toy of a kit or a peep. 

Hunk was also interested in the arm, although he didn’t tend to chew on it.  He seemed fascinated by the mechanics, even though he knew next to nothing about the topics he was a genius on when he was normal.  It was natural for peeps to want to take everything apart and get into stuff (which was pretty similar to how big Hunk worked too), and without the proper tools the peep didn’t stand a chance of actually opening up the arm and damaging it, so Shiro let him poke and tap and pat at the elbow while Pidge gnawed happily on a metal index finger. 

Also consistent with his behavior as a big Human, Hunk asked about a million and one questions as he investigated Shiro’s elbow with the attention and focus only a child could show.  Fingers so much smaller than the hands Shiro was so used to traced the surface of the metal.  Unfamiliar skin, smooth and shiny, fingers just too long and nails not quite the right shape to be quite Human.  Still Hunk, but… different. 

“Does it hurt?”

Shiro startled slightly at the question.  Pidge chirred as his fingers twitched, biting excitedly at a metallic thumb. 

Hunk was looking at the arm’s connection point, tiny hands hovering over bright metal and scarred skin without touching.  _Does it hurt?_   How could Shiro answer?  _No, I’m fine, don’t worry._ A lie.  _Yes, all the time._ Not an option. 

“I have friends who help me,” he said, meeting Hunk’s bright eyes, impossibly shiny like wet river rocks.  “They take care of it and keep it clean and working well.”  _You’re one of them, when you’re big._

Hunk stared at him a while longer, and Shiro couldn’t help but feel like the little peep was reading his mind.  “Okay,” he said finally, nodding.  “Good.  I’m glad you have good friends.  You shouldn’t hurt.”

It was so simple, just child logic.  Shiro was good, so he should not be in pain.  This arm was torment every day, both physical pain and psychological distress of its origin and purpose.  And yet here he sat, with the two people he trusted more than anyone else to take care of the thing.  Sure, they were very small and not exactly their correct species at the moment, but they were still here.  Pidge had abandoned devouring his fingers in favor of staring at the tiny glowing lights within the wrist.  Hunk was back to looking at the elbow, poking carefully at the inner part of the joint, nearly cross-eyed with the closeness of his examination.  They were too young and too small to know anything about it, but even now their attention was focused on it, looking and touching just like any other time.  Even if they weren’t doing much useful, something still matched. 

The Galra could never have planned for their Champion’s arm to be a children’s toy.  Shiro personally thought it was the best use for the thing yet. 

Eventually it was eating time again.  Babies were always hungry, and Pidge had gone back to chewing on Shiro’s (thankfully nerveless) fingers with particular vigor.  Lance’s tummy made a noise that was audible all the way across the room, and Shiro sighed and got up.  “Okay, everyone,” he said, “let’s go get some real food before we all digest our own stomachs.”

Coran scooped Pidge up with one hand, leaning back as she made excited clicky sounds and reached for his moustache.  “Oh no you don’t, you little monster,” he mock-scolded.  “I remember what happened last time I let you within reach of my poor moustache!  It may never recover!”  Pidge giggled and chewed on her tail instead. 

Hunk hadn’t moved from the couch.  When Shiro looked at him, he raised his arms and made puppy eyes at the Black Paladin.  Peep eyes?  Baby-alien eyes that were very effective in getting what one wanted.  Shiro sighed and lifted the peep up, failing to repress a smile as the little not-Altean chirped happily, settled comfortably on Shiro’s hip.  Hunk was by far the biggest of the tiny Paladins, but enough time had passed that even he was easy to carry – Shiro had figured out how to hold small children by the end of the second day by sheer force of necessity.  At least he was getting some new skills out of this mess. 

Lance and Keith had begun to bicker about who Allura was going to carry to the kitchen and who had to walk, since the other two grown-ups were already taken.  Because this was Lance and Keith, the bickering quickly descended into slaps and cuffs and probably would have degraded into full-on wrestling, but before it could Allura scooped each baby up with one arm, shifting to make herself bigger.  She was quite strong enough to carry two children in her natural form, but it was just that much more fun to get a carry-ride when your grown-up was eight feet tall and carrying you like a sack of flour under one arm.  This also meant that the two were conveniently out of reach of each other. 

“Last one to get their babies to the kitchen is a rotten sequak!” Allura shouted, and took off at top speed, Keith’s laughter and Lance’s squealing echoing down the hall as she ran. 

“Princess–!” Coran exclaimed, and he and Shiro shared a single momentary glance before both bolted after her.  Yes, they were all mature adults with lots of responsibilities caring for their newly-smallened charges.  But Shiro and Allura weren’t _that_ old, and Coran was nothing if not young at heart.  So the race was on. 

*

Coran turned out to be the rotten sequak, whatever that was.  He thought he was taking a shortcut but went down the wrong hallway, giving Shiro-and-Hunk the advantage and making him and Pidge the last ones to the kitchen. 

Allura had already deposited Lance and Keith on a clean bit of counterspace.  Lance was rocking from side to side, laughing breathlessly from the excitement of a charge through the castle in the secure hold of a very big and very fast Allura.  Keith was… yes, beneath the sounds of Allura starting lunch and Lance giggling to himself, Shiro could hear Keith purring.  He did it less than Pidge and mostly only made the sound when he was falling asleep, but he was doing it now too.  He looked happy – like a child. 

One ear was inside out. 

Shiro suppressed a snort and put Hunk down next to Lance before fixing his much-littler-than-usual brother’s alien ear.  Keith crinkled his nose like he was going to sneeze, but once the ear was back he twitched both very hard and seemed to be done. 

“I… would like to call… foul play…” Coran panted as he staggered into the kitchen.  Pidge was somehow _in_ the mechanic’s hair, fluffy purple head emerging like a chirping demonic growth, tail looped around one long Altean ear.  Shiro knew from experience that she was going to be hell to get down from her newfound perch, so he busied himself setting out bowls so Allura would have to deal with it instead. 

Mealtime was, as always, an ordeal.  At least they had figured out how to handle things better.  It was never simple or organized, but everyone ate and there were minimal tears and screaming, so that was nice.

Both kits always ate essentially the same things, mostly food goo.  There were a handful of other foods that they had deemed edible, but overall the kits were quite selective. 

On the other hand, the peeps would eat just about anything they could fit in their mouths.  Both Hunk and Lance liked to take apart all their food and made a tremendous mess, although they did end up eating it all so there wasn’t too much to complain about.  Hunk seemed to want to know how everything was put together and what it all felt like.  Lance was apparently just more artistic, as demonstrated by the squiggly ribbons of color striping across the table, which had originally been Lance’s dinner. 

The adults ate too, between trying to stop Pidge from eating her own paws and keeping Lance from falling out of his chair during his artistic throes (read: swinging his arms across the table to make more colorful smearies of dinner and overbalancing in the process).  Hunk was a little easier, left to happily dismantle his food and eat it in his own time.  Keith would only eat if he saw Shiro eating.  Shiro wasn’t sure if it was a Galra-baby-suspicious-of-food thing or if it was a Keith-trying-to-make-Shiro-take-care-of-himself thing. 

Okay, so maybe meals were still kind of a mess.  Hunk had food goo in his ears and Pidge was chewing on her foot, and the table would probably never recover.  But everyone was happy.  Lance was now methodically licking his hands clean.  Keith, after watching Shiro eat most of his food in between trying to keep Hunk’s plate from tipping onto the floor, was most of the way through his own, sitting in Coran’s lap and twitching his ears to make the grown-up squawk when the fluff brushed against his neck.  Pidge was chirruping through her mouthful of pawfoot, patting at the remainder of her bowl of food goo with one tiny hand. 

They were all going to need a bath after this.  But everyone was eating and nobody was upset, and that was about as good as things got in this particular situation. 

* * *

Shiro sat up and stretched, yawning.  That was probably the best nap he’d had since long before the others had gotten baby-ified, and he felt amazing. 

Glancing at the clock, he sighed.  He’d slept longer than expected, Allura had had the children for a long time.  _I should probably go get them so she can take a break,_ he thought.  He was reluctant to get out of bed, or move, or handle four accidentally-baby Paladins who were all a little less Human than usual, but it wasn’t fair to make Allura keep them all day.  She had other things to do too, namely figuring out how to turn said Paladins back to normal. 

 _Time to go._   Shiro hauled himself out of bed, twisting to try and get the strain out of his shoulder.  He couldn’t wait until Hunk and Pidge were back, his arm was acting up again and it made it harder to carry a bunch of children around. 

He made his way to the common room where Allura usually stayed when she had the kids.  “Princess?  I’m sorry, I slept longer than I thought I would, but I can take them… now?”

There was nobody in the room.  _Odd._  

Sometimes she took them to the bridge, if she needed to do work but keep an eye on the peeps and kits while she was at it.  He would check there. 

The bridge wasn’t empty: Allura stood at a control panel, tapping carefully at something Shiro couldn’t read.  She turned at the sound of his approach.  “Shiro!” she smiled, but the look soon changed to one of confusion.  “Where are the peeps?”

“With you, and the kits too,” Shiro responded slowly.  “I just woke up.”

They stared at each other, gray and blue eyes widening slowly as realization dawned. 

“Coran has them.  He has to.”

“I… I’m certain he does.  Let’s go check, just quickly.” 

They ran. 

Coran was in the kitchen, muttering to himself as he glared at a battered Altean cookbook.  “Put the glyfir berries into the pot and stir… nobody boils glyfir berries, who wrote this wretched thing?  Maybe there’s an alternate – oh!  Princess, Number One.  What can I do for you?”

“Coran,” Allura panted as Shiro braced his hands on his knees to catch his breath, “do you have the children with you?”

The old mechanic blinked.  “Er, no, I don’t.  Haven’t seen them in a bit, come to think.  I thought one of you had them?”  At the looks on their faces, his eyes widened.  “Ah.  Oh dear.”

Shiro could feel his heart rate picking up.  The Paladins had been missing for hours, and nobody knew where they were.  The Castle of Lions was huge and filled with danger, especially for a group of children wandering around unsupervised.  They could be anywhere. 

“I’m sure they’re just around somewhere,” Coran said, trying to reassure the other two even as they all rushed out, aimless for where to look but desperate to find.  “They must be, er, somewhere… in all the castle…”

“Split up,” Allura commanded, taking charge.  “I will search the central common areas, we may have missed them earlier.  Coran, check the private quarters in case they went back up to the rooms for some reason.  Shiro, go to the lower decks and see if they’ve gone adventuring somewhere new without any grown-ups around.”

Shiro’s breathing was ragged as he ran through the castle.  It had been bad enough when they’d lost Pidge earlier, and that had been just for a little while, terrifying though it had been.  Now, though – now, all four were missing and had been for hours.  They could be anywhere.  Anything could have happened. 

_No, no, no.  I can’t lose them.  Voltron needs them, but – I can’t –_

Images flashed through his mind.  The ridiculous crest of fluff that was just as unruly as Keith’s normal hair.  Hunk’s curious hands, smaller than usual but just as gentle when they touched Shiro’s arm, his face, his ears.  Pidge was completely incomprehensible now, but the intensity of her flat yellow stare matched the familiar hazel eyes she normally had.  Lance’s smile was exactly the same, except for the shining blue cheek marks that now crinkled on his skin whenever he was happy. 

He could not lose them. 

Something nudged his mind.  Immense, ancient power and knowledge, but careful and gentle as it reached out.  New and strange, but as familiar as his own heartbeat.  The Black Lion. 

Shiro let out a shaky breath.  “Black, I can’t find them.  We lost them, and they’ve been on their own for who knows how long, and that’s bad even when they’re kind of adults which they absolutely are not right now, and _I don’t know where–_ ”

A heavy feeling, like an animal leaning hard on his brain.  A _shush._  

Pictures and feelings flowed in.  They were blurred and unfamiliar the way something that could not be experienced in one’s own body was unfamiliar.  But they were recognizable. 

“Thank you, Black,” Shiro whispered, and took off towards the Lion hangars. 

*

And there they were, just like Black had said.  Showed.  Communicated.  Whatever. 

Shiro slowed to a stop from the run he’d just taken across half the castle.  He was out of breath, but it was from running, not fear.  He’d found them. 

In retrospect, it made sense.  It could only be a matter of time before the Paladins went to their Lions, regardless of the particular form said Paladins might be in at the moment.  Even as tiny children, peeps and kits not of their own species, the Paladins had found their way to their Lions. 

The Blue Lion was just _fawning._   Lance was somehow playing with her, despite the fact that she was a gigantic ancient robotic Lion made of metal and magic and he was a very small Altean peep.  He hopped and flopped and rolled around, and Blue seemed to mimic it, crashing and thudding against the hangar floor and one unfortunate wall as she made an utter fool of herself to amuse her much-tinier-than-usual Paladin.  Lance was _loving_ it, acting just as much a fool himself, grinning like a dolt as he tried to balance on his head.  He didn’t succeed, but a gigantic paw caught him carefully and then the Lion itself was rolling upside down, massive jaw half-open as she tried to both lie on her back and look at her Paladin. 

The Green Lion was the smallest Lion, although when they were this big that wasn’t saying much.  Pidge was the smallest Paladin.  Now she was much, much smaller, barely a handful of purple fluff and tiny sharp teeth.  That handful had plopped herself down in front of her Lion, and Green was lying flat on her belly, paws sticking straight out and entire body stone-still as her tiny Paladin petted carefully at her metallic nose.  Shiro didn’t think he had seen Pidge ever look so calm in this form, and her tail lay limp on the floor, not twisting or twirling or being clung to or chewed on like usual.  The robot cat’s golden eyes shone like warm sunlight, and Shiro realized the quiet rumbling in the floor that he had mistaken for the castle’s engine were the tiniest purr the mechanical beast could muster, an effort to show her love and devotion without frightening the little kit that was petting her with all the concentration a baby could show. 

Shiro almost missed Hunk.  The peep was high in the air, halfway up the Yellow Lion’s side and climbing with a concentration and joy that normal-Hunk might not have if he was free-climbing a gigantic piece of metal.  The Black Paladin felt a spike of worry before it was washed away: Yellow would never let her Paladin be harmed.  If Hunk slipped or lost his grip, he was sure to be caught in a giant paw or gentle jaw before he could even come close to the ground.  It was unusual to watch the Yellow Paladin climbing so energetically and exploring so excitedly, without the usual anxiety that accompanied such activities when he was himself, but it was nice.  Hunk was with his Lion.  He was small, with pointed ears and golden marks on his face that matched Yellow’s armor, but he was happy.

 If Hunk had been hard to find, Keith seemed to be very well-hidden.  Shiro couldn’t find him anywhere.  Just when he started to worry again, fearing that the kit had wandered away from the hangar, he got a hint.  The hint came in the form of the mental feeling of a headbutt, complete with a grumbly growl, but he got the idea. 

Shiro had rarely been in the Red Lion’s cockpit.  It was smaller than Black’s, and brighter, everything brilliant scarlet instead of inky dark. 

The pilot’s seat was empty.  But crawling around on the dashboard, pressing the brightly-colored buttons and tripping over the levers, was Keith. 

Thank the stars that the Lions were sentient and that Red had disconnected all the cockpit’s controls, Shiro thought as he watched Keith happily mash the large red button that fired Red’s lava laser.  He was pretty sure the kit was sitting on the sword-activator panel. 

Shiro must have made a sound, because Keith’s ears twitched and he looked up.  He broke into a smile, looking happier than Shiro had seen him in a long time.  “Shiro!” he cried, “I found a lion!”

“You sure did,” Shiro said, letting out a half-laugh half-sigh.  All that worry, and they had just been playing with their Lions.  Shiro had never felt more grateful in his life.  “Now come on, it’s dinnertime.  You can see your Lion again later.”

Keith sat up, reaching out in the way that had now become very familiar.  Shiro picked the kit up, wincing as one of Keith’s feet kicked the speed-booster lever on the way, and balanced him on a hip as he left the Lion’s cockpit. 

“Bye, Red,” Keith said, patting at the door as Shiro closed it.  Red let out a deep growly purr and Keith laughed, patting it again as his ears twitched happily. 

“Allura, Coran,” Shiro said when they reached the nearest comm station, “I found them.  We’re in the Lion hangars.  Everyone’s okay.”

There was a burst of static and a few crashing noises before Coran’s voice came through.  “Wonderful, brilliant job, Number One!  We will be right there – Allura’s already gone.”

“See you soon.” Shiro cut the comm and went to retrieve his Paladins. 

* * *

Although children of all species had seemingly boundless energy, it did run out eventually.  Both peeps and kits crashed hard when they did, finally, crash.  So between all the activities and running around, there were naps for babies and adults alike.  Sometimes Allura and Coran joined, but they were also working to undo whatever science-magic had made four out of five Paladins small and not their proper species, so they often had to be away.  For the most part, Shiro was left on his own with his four Paladins, much smaller and… fluffier? than they usually were, but warm and happy to snuggle when they did finally wear themselves out. 

If the babies were worn out, Shiro was positively _exhausted_.  He set up some movie, possibly without subtitles – too tired to check – before dropping bonelessly onto the couch, leaving the others to clamber up and arrange themselves as they liked around the Human.  By the time they had all settled, Shiro was nearly asleep.  

Keith clawed his way up first and immediately burrowed into the pillows beneath Shiro’s metal arm.  He didn’t stop wriggling until he was almost completely concealed, although Shiro could see one of his gigantic ears sticking out near the shoulder.  He’d never been much of a movie person, and seemed much more interested in making himself a nest underneath his brother. 

Lance needed a boost from Hunk, but soon made his way up to Shiro’s other side.  He poked and prodded until Shiro lifted his Human arm, and then settled in a little tangle pressed against the Human, making quiet chirps of contentment.  Shiro wasn’t entirely sure whether he and Hunk could understand the Altean movies, but they had enjoyed them well enough before, and he was too tired to think about the intricacies of species development and language learning and what may or may not have carried over in this strange magical re-speciation event. 

Pidge did a remarkable impression of a flying squirrel, leaping from Hunk’s grasp to land directly on Shiro’s chest, knocking the air out of him and startling Lance and Keith before everyone settled again.  She twisted in circle upon circle, finally plopping down in a neat ball with her tail held securely in both hands. 

Satisfied that everyone else was all set, Hunk hauled himself up onto the couch next to Lance, snuggling close to his kin-brother.  They chirped quietly back-and-forth for a few minutes, peeping like little birds as they relaxed.  Shiro was essentially asleep already, but he reached over and stroked Hunk’s hair, dazedly marveling at the sleek smoothness.  This wasn’t Human hair.  They weren’t Human.  But it was soft, and surrounded by babies Shiro was very warm.  Keith was like a tiny furnace, and the heat helped soothe the ache in Shiro’s Galra arm.  Pidge’s purring echoed in Shiro’s chest, and the little peeping sounds from beside him were beyond calming.  Here, he finally fully relaxed. 

The movie played on, complex as all Altean media were, but it didn’t matter.  The children seemed content enough to just watch it for the colors, and Shiro was asleep before the title screen even showed. 

At one point Coran came by to check up on them all.  He stuck his head in the door and for a moment could only stare at the little scene, all five Paladins piled on one another in various states of wakefulness.  Very quietly, he raised his datapad and took a picture (or twelve).  Then, just as quietly, he tiptoed back out the door, leaving Voltron to their sleepy snuggletime. 

* * *

“We know how to turn them back.”

Shiro had been waiting days for those words.  Voltron was paralyzed like this, and it didn’t matter how cute the Paladins were in these forms – the universe needed them. 

That still didn’t make it feel much better. 

The four not-currently-Human Paladins were playing in the common area.  The current game seemed to involve a lot of jumping from couch to couch.  Lance was shrieking but not in a fear sort of way, and Keith’s ears were at their fully-upright, excited position.  Hunk appeared to have no difficulty with all the leaping, despite the fact that Pidge was clinging to his shoulders like a tiny purple backpack.  None of them were paying the slightest amount of attention to the grown-ups, standing nearby and having the most serious of conversations. 

“Are you sure?” Shiro trusted the Alteans, trusted that they knew their science and magic and technology, that they knew how to reverse this safely.  He knew nothing of any of it, after all, so he had to rely on them and believe that they could do it.  But there would always be doubt.  What if it went wrong?  What if the reversal didn’t work?  What if it hurt the Paladins, or made them sick?  What if something didn’t go quite right?  Voltron would be destroyed, but more importantly – Shiro couldn’t lose them.  The universe couldn’t afford it, but neither could he. 

Allura nodded.  The Princess looked a little distressed herself, and Shiro knew that although she had said nothing to him of how it felt to look at two Altean peeps and know that there were no more peeps or Alteans of any kind, it was still affecting her.  Maybe she had spoken with Coran about it, or would soon.  He could only hope so.  There was nothing Shiro could do about this – he didn’t know how it felt.  But it was a heavy burden, and the two true Alteans needed to share it with each other before one of them broke. 

“They will be back to normal in no time,” Coran said with only slightly forced joviality.  “Four Humans, the same size and shape and age as before!  We’ve done all the tests, they ought to be quite alright.”

Keith yowled and they all looked over, but it was only that Hunk had picked the kit up and had him upside-down in an inexpert but reasonably secure hold.  Pidge had tumbled off at some point and was sitting on a couch arm with her tail twitching like a live wire, eyes bright as she watched the others wrestle.  Lance looked like he was making to tackle the other two, and Coran booked it over there to catch him before the peep could send everyone crashing to the floor. 

“It really should work,” Allura said, looking back at Shiro.  “We would never attempt it if we thought there was a risk something would go wrong.”

Shiro knew that.  He knew they would be fine, knew that it had to be done.  It didn’t make it any easier. 

“Okay,” he said. 

It was time for the Paladins to go back to how they truly were. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all fluffy baby things must come to an end eventually. the last chapter will be up around the end of the week, because then i'm traveling and i do not want to take my chances with the internet abroad again. glad you're all enjoying this childish nonsense, i've had fun writing it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did not get last chapter posted before traveling. fortunately, the french internet is behaving, so here i am, late but present (and posting at midnight sitting in the middle of the floor because that's the only spot i have wifi in my room). but it is done, and so here it is. 
> 
> ending is smushy and i don't really like it, and there are more things i'm maybe considering adding to this. may or may not do that this week, depending on how much time i can get to write and whether the internet continues to function.

Shiro took a deep breath and tried to keep his hands from shaking.  He didn’t want to disturb Pidge.  She had only fallen asleep a short while ago, clearly sensing that something was happening and not liking it.  He’d soothed her into sleep at last by carrying her around the room, rocking the kit gently the way his mother had said she had done to him, when he was an infant who would not go to sleep any other way. 

Pidge wouldn’t be this small for much longer.  None of them would be.  Coran and Allura had finally figured out how to undo the magic or science or whatever it was that had turned four-fifths of Team Voltron into children of incorrect species. 

It was a good thing, Shiro reminded himself.  They couldn’t fight like this, couldn’t do anything at all.  Shiro needed his team back and ready to go, not stuck as small children with soft fur and glowing marks on their faces. 

That didn’t keep him from feeling some weird soft kind of sadness.  He’d met Keith when the future Red Paladin had been a young angry teenager, and Pidge when she’d been just a bit older and only slightly less volatile.  Lance and Hunk he’d never even laid eyes on until they rescued him from the Garrison upon his return to Earth.  He had never known them as children, mostly only as warriors, fighters in a battle far too big for them. 

But like this – like this, Hunk was still worried but less so, more comfortable and confident, willing to try silly things.  Lance was less brazen, and underneath less insecure.  He was more honest, gentler.  Pidge, of course, was literally a baby now so it was hard to get into her head.  She still didn’t seem to like sleeping, but she was far more physically affectionate, and would happily babble at Shiro for hours even though he had no idea what she was saying (actually, that was basically regular Pidge too, now that he thought about it).  But she was more relaxed, more trusting, more interested in interacting with the others.  Keith had new anxiety in the form of being the only purple one besides Pidge (although that was accurate for grown Keith too, minus the Pidge connection), but he didn’t bury it quite as much.  He let Shiro in, trusted him in ways that even full-sized Keith didn’t.  There was less rage, too.  Things that made him angry and mistrustful in his real mind didn’t exist in this form. 

Part of Shiro would be sad to lose some of the aspects of what his Paladins had now, as children of Altea or Galra.  But there was no way to let them stay like this.  It wasn’t who they were, not really, and besides Voltron could not be piloted by a group of children.  Well.  A group of even-younger children than they really were.  They had to be turned back, and Coran and Allura had finally figured out how.  So it was happening, today, now. 

“You promise it’s okay?” Lance trusted Allura, even moreso because she looked like him and clearly adored both him and Hunk, but being told to go into the pods seemed to be making him nervous.  Hunk clung to his hand, looking twice as anxious. 

“I promise,” Allura said, reaching out to him and the Yellow Paladin, both of whom instantly latched on to her like limpets.  “Just a few vargas in the pods, and you’ll be all better.”

“But we don’t feel sick?” Hunk said, although it came out more like a question. 

Coran bobbed his head.  “Just a tuneup, Number Two!  After this you’ll all be right as razgars on a full moon!”

Neither Hunk nor Lance seemed to know what that was (apparently getting turned into an Altean didn’t automatically grant one understanding of Coran’s comments; nothing in the universe could do that), but they went with it, as they always had. 

Keith watched the interaction with muted suspicion in his flat yellow eyes.  Shiro nudged him.  “You too, Keith.  Everybody in a pod, just for a little bit.”  When the kit turned those eyes on him, he took a breath.  “It’s okay.  I’ll be right here, I promise.  You’ll be okay.”  _You’ll be back to being okay._  

Keith didn’t blink.  “Pidge too?  It’s safe for her?” The closeness between the Arms of Voltron had expanded tremendously during their time as Galra kits.  Keith was ferociously protective of the now-even-tinier Pidge, and despite being essentially an infant Pidge clearly adored the other fuzzy purple being of the castle, and sometimes would only settle if he was near, not Shiro or Allura or Coran. 

Shiro had had the same fears.  Pidge was so much smaller and had been turned so much younger than the others, and he had been deeply concerned about whether the process would work properly on her even if it did for the others.  Coran and Allura had sworn that they had checked everything three times, and that even a tiny Galra could be turned back into a slightly-less-tiny Human completely safely.  “Yes, Keith.  She’ll be fine.  You’ll see her in a couple hours.”

It was time for the four to go into the pods.  Despite all reassurances, they still knew something was up and were all more than a little stressed.  Pidge fussed until she got to see the other three.  She poked Hunk’s shiny-gold eye markings, pulled on Lance’s long pointed ear (cackling at his squawk), and petted gently at Keith’s purple crest of fur before allowing herself to be placed in a pod.  She didn’t make any sound as the door slid shut, only clung to her tail and watched Shiro with a terrifying amount of trust in those glowing yellow eyes.  Then the pod closed and she fell asleep. 

Keith was next.  He stared at Pidge’s pod for a long time before turning back to the others.  “Okay,” he said quietly.  Shiro picked him up, trying to memorize how his brother’s tiny form held onto him, claws digging securely but not uncomfortably into his shirt.  He’d never known Keith as a Human child of this size, and although he had turned out to be part-Galra, he had never been purple, with big batlike ears or yellowy eyes.  This was different, and now it was over.  “I’ll be right here when you come back,” he said quietly, and Keith nodded.  He didn’t know what was going on and he didn’t exactly like it, but he trusted Shiro.  So when the Human placed him gently into the pod, Keith let go, closing his eyes before the door fully closed. 

Then it was Lance’s turn, although he was clearly torn between going before Hunk to check the pods out or after to make sure his friend went in safely.  In the end, he seemed to decide that he trusted Shiro and Allura enough to watch Hunk for him, and climbed in.  First, though, he hugged the other peep fiercely, rubbing his aqua-blue mark gently against Hunk’s matching gold.  “See you soon,” he whispered, and Hunk gave his fellow Leg a watery smile and murmured the same.  Lance squeezed both of Hunk’s hands tightly, and then released him to get a lift up into the pod from Allura.  He smiled reassuringly at Hunk until the door sealed and frost crept over the surface, hiding the Blue Paladin from view. 

Hunk turned to Shiro, although he took Allura’s hand as soon as she stepped away from Lance’s pod.  “They’ll be okay?” he asked, trying for calm but unable to hide the wobble in his voice. 

Shiro couldn’t help but smile.  Even small and a completely different species, Hunk cared about the others in a way that Shiro would have been amazed by even before Kerberos.  Now, after seeing all the cruelty the universe had to offer, he valued Hunk’s compassion and empathy even more.  “You’ll see them again very soon,” he reassured, wrapping Hunk in a tight hug.  This would be the last time he could fully reach around the Yellow Paladin, the last time he could pick him up and balance him on his hip.  “They’ll be fine, and you’ll all be back together before you know it.”

“Okay,” Hunk murmured, pressing his face into Shiro’s neck.  He reached out for a last hug from Allura, waved shyly to Coran at the controls of the pods, and then allowed Shiro to place him in the last pod.  “See you soon,” the Yellow Paladin said, smiling at Shiro. 

“See you soon,” Shiro murmured, and watched until the door had closed. 

Now all there was to do was wait. 

* * *

They emerged in reverse order of going in.  Coran explained something about the work the healing pods were having to do to undo the age and species changes, but Shiro was too busy hugging Hunk. 

Hunk who, only hours before, had been small enough for Shiro to pick up with one hand, whose ears had been pointed and whose face had been marked with splashes of glimmering gold.  Now he was Human, with a Human face and Human eyes.  And he was back to being big enough to pick Shiro up, instead of the other way around. 

“I’m not sure what happened or why we were in the pods,” he mumbled in Shiro’s ear, “but I remember not being scared, because you were there.”

Shiro muffled a laugh in Hunk’s shoulder, squeezing him tighter even though his feet were barely on the ground.  “A lot happened.  I’m glad you’re back.”

Then Allura rushed in, sweeping the re-sized and re-specied Yellow Paladin into a crushing hug.  Hunk reciprocated, despite his evident confusion. 

“Okay, so something has clearly been going on while we’ve been out,” he said when the Princess released him.  “I don’t even really remember what happened to put _me_ in a pod, much less the rest of the team.” Anxiety flickered across Hunk’s face as he glanced over the other three pods.  “So how about we go have some lunch and catch this Leg up on what the heck has been happening, because I am _very_ confused.”

“A brilliant plan, Number Two,” Coran said as he entered.  “There is much to be explained, and we have at least enough time to prepare some food before Number Three is scheduled to be ejected from his pod.”

So the four made their way to the kitchens, and Shiro played helper as Hunk made up the best lunch the castle had had since the Event.  Cooking was not really in Shiro’s skillset, although he was a good enough assistant when given clear and simple tasks, Allura had never needed to learn, and Coran… well, Coran’s tasted did not run in line with those of the rest of the castleship inhabitants, to put it simply. 

As they worked, Shiro, Allura, and Coran caught Hunk up to the events of the past week.  The mission, the body Paladins getting separated from Shiro, and how when he finally found them, they were… not themselves. 

Hunk was flabbergasted.  Coran showed him pictures, and Shiro got to see Hunk, brilliant, babbly Hunk, at a complete loss for words. 

“I was… a kid?” he murmured, gazing at the static image on the pad screen.  “And,” he squinted, “Altean?”

“Yes,” Allura confirmed.  She was wearing a strong-set mask of composure, keeping all her emotions about her team being de-aged, and two of them becoming Altean young, buried.  For now, it was all facts.  “You and Lance became Altean peeps, while Keith and Pidge were turned into Galra kits.  We still do not fully understand how, although we were able to turn you back after about a week in those forms.”

Hunk squinted harder at the picture.  It was one that Coran had taken while Shiro had had all the Paladins piled on him for a **~~movie~~ nap** time, taken maybe two days ago.  Shiro looked exhausted but content, with Pidge tucked against his chest and Lance nestled underneath his Human arm.  Keith was burrowed into his other side, mostly buried beneath Shiro’s Galra arm and Pidge, only a side and most of a leg visible, plus one purple ear tufting out from somewhere near Shiro’s shoulder.  Hunk was tucked close to Lance’s free side, leaning against his best friend and clearly mostly asleep, Shiro’s living hand laid on his head. 

A lovely picture, but four of the five were much smaller than their usual sizes.  Also, Pidge was purple and very obviously a baby and a Galra, her big yellow eyes staring, pupil-less, at the camera and her enormous ears up and open, one brushing Shiro’s chin.  Her tail was looped around one ankle and held delicately in both tiny paw-hands.  What was visible of Keith was purple too, and even though the Red Paladin was relatively small for a Human, he never would have fit under Shiro’s arm that easily in his normal form.  Lance’s eyes were too shiny and clear, and on his cheekbones blazed two bright blue marks like tiny headlights.  Hunk was far smaller than his usual size, clearly a child, and his ears showed under the ruffling of Shiro’s hand, long and pointed.  His face was different too: it looked like someone had pasted gold-leaf V’s beneath each eye. 

“We were all…” Hunk trailed off, staring at the photograph with a look of total loss. 

“You’re back now,” Shiro said, laying one hand on Hunk’s shoulder, “and the others will be out soon.  No harm done.”

“I… I don’t really remember anything,” Hunk said.  “A whole week?  That’s… that’s a lot missing.  – I mean,” he sputtered, glancing at Shiro apologetically, “I meant–”

“I understand,” Shiro smiled.  “It’s a strange feeling.  I can promise you though, it was a nice week, even if a little strange.  You were a lifesaver as usual.  I would never have been able to handle the others without you, even though you were almost as young as they were.”

“Besides,” Allura added, “you may regain some of those memories over time.  We still don’t fully understand the magic and/or science that altered you, but the memories may come back over the next few days.”

“Entirely possible,” Coran agreed.  “For the moment, however, I recommend we go back to the pod room.  Lance – and Keith as well – should be emerging soon.”

Lance and Keith did, in fact, emerge.  Lance was first, and was caught before his feet could even touch the ground by Allura, who held him close for just longer than might be considered normal.  Lance was too surprised and startled and confused to do anything about it other than hug the princess back.  At least, for a moment.  Then he smiled into her shoulder.  “Well hello, Princess.  Are you really so happy to see me?”

She finally pulled back, gazing at him with a smile that was at once tremendously relieved and astoundingly sad.  “I believe I am,” she said softly, tracing one fingertip along his cheekbone. 

The moment over, the two separated.  Allura smothered the sadness in her eyes as she turned towards Keith’s pod, and Lance just stood there with a baffled smile on his face, at least until Hunk descended on him with a hug that lifted the Blue Paladin off his feet.  “Lance, this is nuts, you won’t _believe_ –”

Lance had to wait to find out what exactly he wouldn’t believe, because Keith was always a party pooper and chose that moment to come out of his Healing Pod. 

He was caught the same way Lance had been, by Shiro this time.  “Shir – what–” Keith mumbled into his brother’s chest, hands fluttering confusedly until they settled on the Black Paladin’s back. 

“Welcome back,” Shiro said, pressing his nose into Keith’s hair.  “We have a lot to catch you up on.”

Pidge still had a while before she was set to come out of her pod, so the group returned to the kitchen to eat the food Hunk and Shiro had prepared and explain the events of the previous week to a very confused Lance and Keith. 

Lance stared at the picture, face slack with astonishment, and almost subconsciously lifted one hand to trace where, only hours before, blue marks had shimmered like the ocean on his cheeks.  He leaned slowly against Hunk.  Hunk wrapped his arms around his friend and Lance put a hand over Hunk’s joined ones, and Shiro was struck by the position – they had done just the same thing as tiny Altean peeps, only hours ago. 

Keith didn’t say anything at all, but Shiro could feel the tension coming off him in waves.  The Red Paladin looked nervous, withdrawn, gazing at the image of tiny purple-him with unreadable eyes.  Finally he glanced up, not at Shiro but at Allura and Coran.  Allura was eating, focused on her plate and doing her best to maintain restraint even though the events of the day were clearly affecting her, but Coran looked up and met his eyes.  The mechanic smiled at him, open and kind, and all of Keith’s tension melted. 

Lance finally broke the moment, snapping everyone out of the weird introspective lull they had dropped into.  “Look, Princess,” he said, his smile back to being clear and clever, “we matched!”

Before all this, Allura might only have sniffed at him, or rolled her eyes or turned away.  Now, though, she nearly smiled back, a tiny twist of her lips that had Lance’s eyes lighting up.  “Indeed we did,” she replied, “and even your ears were normal for once!” Her playing along left Lance wordless, bright and grinning helplessly back as he leaned heavily into Hunk with joy.  Something had changed between them, and Shiro thought it might be for the better. 

Keith was quiet, but more relaxed now.  As the Alteans and… former Alteans? – bantered, Shiro leaned over to him.  “You know,” he said, pitching his voice so that only Keith would hear, “it was okay.  You were Galra, purple and everything, and Allura and Coran were completely fine.  Nobody hates you for it.”  The unintentional sort-of favoritism that the Alteans had held had been only a product of the tremendous longing and sadness of losing one’s entire species, not because they loved Keith or Pidge any less.  “I think… I think it might have even helped them, in the long run,” Shiro confided, finally voicing the thoughts he’d been having for days, “to remember that the Galra aren’t all monstrous Empire soldiers.  Galra children are just like any other kind.  Some Galra are just people – or kids.”

The Red Paladin didn’t respond, but he glanced at Shiro from the corner of his eye, visibly thinking about his brother’s words.  Shiro knew Keith.  He would process this concept for a few days, and at some unpredictable time in the future he would come to him, ready to talk.  That was fine.  Shiro was patient. 

Meal finished and Paladins updated, they returned to the pod room.  Pidge was due out any minute, and they all wanted to be there.  Lance was still gushing about the pictures of her fluffy ears and long wiry tail, but Hunk finally got him to shut up when the door to the pod holding the last Paladin finally slid open. 

Pidge had time to take exactly one step on her own out of the pod before Shiro had caught her up in his arms.  Unlike with Keith, he lifted the Green Paladin straight off her feet the way Allura had done with Lance, holding her close and reveling in the feeling of her being bigger, normal again.  Yes, part of him would miss the enormous unblinking yellow eyes and the squeak-babbles she had made constantly as a kit (not to mention that _tail_ ), but it was also a strange kind of relief to feel the only Holt he had be the right size and shape again.  He’d never thought Pidge could feel _big_ in his arms, but after a week of holding her terrier-sized self, five-foot was a giant.  He loved it. 

“Hi Shiro,” Pidge said into his collarbone, obliging the surprise cuddle by koala-ing, wrapping her arms and legs around Shiro’s body like she was some kind of overlarge starfish.  “What’s going on?”

“Apparently we’ve been kids for like a week,” Lance said with no preamble.  Pidge pulled back from Shiro to stare in confusion and he carefully put her down, still unused to her now large-feeling size.  Not to mention her being able to stand on her own.  Kit-Pidge had crawled, climbed, scooted, slid, or demanded carrying for her movement; Shiro couldn’t remember the tiny creature actually walking anywhere, or bothering to properly stand up.  But Pidge was big again now (at least, relatively big), and her ferocious independence was not to be challenged.  That hadn’t changed when she had been transformed into a kit, but she had at least been more interested in cuddles. 

That part, maybe, hadn’t quite faded, because as soon as Shiro let go Pidge took a few steps, wobbled, sort of tilted, and ended up leaning against Keith’s side.  The Red Paladin wrapped an arm around her shoulders without reaction and they both looked at Lance, none of them noticing that the two least-touchy people on the team were just kind of melting into one another.  Apparently, being the only two purple ones had strengthened their bond as well, like with Lance and Allura. 

“Lance what the quiznak are you talking about,” Pidge said tiredly. 

“Show her the pictures!” Lance gesticulated at Coran.  “You won’t believe this, Pidge,” he said.  “We got turned into kids – actually, I think you were technically a baby – and Hunk and I were Altean and you and Keith were Galra, and I had blue face-mark-things and Hunk had yellow ones, because duh, and you had a _tail_ , and Keith was _fuzzy_ , and–”

Shiro cut him off before the Blue Paladin could get too excited.  Pidge was looking very lost.  This was definitely a lot to have thrown at you thirty seconds after exiting a healing pod.  “A lot has happened,” he said gently, laying one hand on her back.  “Why don’t we all sit down, and you can get caught up on everything.”

“And now that everyone is awake, we can fully go over the events of the last week and the events that caused them, and perhaps better understand how this happened,” Allura added. 

“I want to hear _everything_ ,” Lance said as the now-complete team made its way to the common room.  “I can’t believe I was an Altean for a week and don’t remember anything!” 

“A little Altean,” Hunk reminded him.  “Man, I’m glad there are pictures, because that must have been _wild_.”

 _It sure was_ , Shiro thought.  Part of him thought he might miss it.  He had no experience with children, true, but there had been something wonderful about that week, despite the worry and fear. 

They settled onto the couches, nestling close like they had before despite the now very different size.  It was irrationally funny to watch, really, because everyone sat down the way they had been doing for a week, and four of the seven had no idea why and the other three hadn’t really intended to do so. 

Shiro had Pidge tucked against his side and Keith just past her, pressed against her so as to be as close as possible to Shiro too.  Lance was beside Allura and she didn’t even protest, and Hunk was close to him like Keith was to Pidge, so as to be near to the other Altean as well.  They, at least, had that urge somewhat mitigated by Coran placing himself on Hunk’s other side, and the Yellow Paladin relaxed before he even realized he’d been tense. 

The next hours were filled with talking.  The Paladins were confused and curious about the events of the last week, and Shiro, Allura, and Coran were more than happy to fill them it.  It was such a relief to get to interact with them as people again – as adults (sort of), instead of small children.  They remembered essentially nothing, but the others had plenty of stories and pictures to go with them, filling in the blanks with ridiculous tales of bathtimes and hair brushing and naps and adventures. 

Strange, but familiar.  Just like before.  Shiro hadn’t realized how much he’d gotten used to the other Paladins being small, and although it was of course a tremendous relief for them to all be back to normal, things had changed again and it was going to take a while for him to get used to it.  Pidge didn’t fit in one hand anymore, Hunk was nearly as tall as Shiro was, and although he could still pick up Keith and Lance with one arm each it would now take considerably more effort. 

The Paladins were intensely curious, but they were also completely exhausted.  They hadn’t exactly been themselves the past few days, and healing pods took a lot out of you.  Warm and together on the couches, it didn’t take long for them all to fall asleep, one by one.  Once Lance finally dozed off with his head on Allura’s shoulder, there was a moment of quiet. 

“Thank you,” Shiro said, keeping his voice low to avoid waking his finally-returned-to-Human friends. 

“I’m glad we were finally able to do it,” Allura said, and although there was a trace of sadness in her eyes as she looked at Hunk’s sleeping face, cheeks no longer marked with gold, she sounded honest.  She had loved the peeps, but she loved their true Human selves too.  She knew. 

“It was a group effort, and well done,” Coran said.  His smile was tired but genuine.  “We may have found the cure, but you handled more than your share of caretaking, and we appreciate it.  I think they do too.”

As alien children, the Paladins had always been making noise.  Even in sleep they had chirped, chirred, and purred, peeping and squeaking and mumbling and grumbling.  Now it was quiet.  Hunk’s head was tipped back in a way that suggested he might start snoring soon if someone didn’t move him, and Pidge always made little sighing noises in her sleep, but there was none of the sleepy cacophony that had filled the days since their initial transformation.  Of all the details to fixate on it was kind of strange, but sometimes it was just the little things. 

This had been big, and it would take a few days for everyone, transformed and not, to readjust.  It had been a big day.  The castle now held only two Alteans, and there were now four Humans and one part-Human part-Galra.  Magic, science – it didn’t really matter.  Whatever happened had been undone.  It could have been the ruin of Voltron, but they’d fixed it.  Fixed it, and maybe grown even closer in the process. 

* * *

Although the Paladins had been turned back to normal, some things were similar to how they had been when they were changed.  Lance accidentally totally destroyed his food one lunchtime, only noticing once everyone was staring at him and the smushed spread-out remains of his food painted across the table.  Keith found himself stuck in the semi-nocturnal sleeping pattern the Galra kits had maintained and kept falling asleep in odd places.  Pidge went into a vent to do maintenance but came scrambling back out four ticks later straight into Coran’s arms, and wouldn’t go back in for days.  Hunk kept getting distracted by the lights when he worked on Shiro’s arm, which needed quite a bit of maintenance after being used as a chewtoy and for carrying children around for days. 

Shiro had to admit it.  He was going to miss Keith’s big bat-ears, Lance’s water-rippling blue cheek marks, Hunk’s familiar-but-definitely-not-Human hands, Pidge’s tail.  The past week had certainly been an experience.  But he was also indescribably relieved to have them back in the forms that truly belonged to them.  Hunk was no longer small, but rivaled Shiro in size and was the sturdiest backup one could ask for.  Keith – thank god, Shiro’s brother had been returned to himself with no negative effects.  He wasn’t fully Human, but it didn’t matter.  And maybe after some time to process, this could even be good for him.  Lance’s eyes weren’t the shiny-glowy that Altean eyes were, but the blue was the same.  Pidge was fine, and Shiro could not put into words how glad he was that Katie was herself again, body and mind.  She was Human, and she was safe.  They all were. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading this absurdity. i have never wanted to be able to draw more than when i was writing this, but my artistic-ness lies in other mediums so i had to settle for being obnoxiously descriptive and hope it translated. hopefully you too saw the literal fluffy cuteness. 
> 
> thanks to loki for talking for hours with me about how children work (i don't even understand human children, why did i try to write about alien ones???), and to j for being excited about floofbabies and motivating me to make the darn brainpictures into words, and then posting it! all done, i hope you liked it as much as i did! 
> 
> i love hearing what you think about this fluffy silliness, even if it's just "this is cute!" it's very encouraging. i'm absolutely godawful at intercommunication, but i can vaguely be reached either here on ao3 or on [tumblr](https://luoup.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> happy late birthday, j! i know you've wanted this for a while so i made that my motivation aaand i'm still late. but here you go. fluffbabies galore. 
> 
> i'm super excited for this. there are a lot of brainpictures and i'm trying my darndest to make them visible in words too. hopefully i did okay. i also plan to actually have a schedule for once and not vanish into the ether, so expect chapter 2 of this ridiculous thing sometime next week, i guess. this chapter might get some edits/help too, and there might also be a title change if i think of something better. 
> 
> if you have questions or excitement or ??? i'm vaguely on [tumblr](https://luoup.tumblr.com) too


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